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Superman: Up in the Sky Vol 1 1
. Superman gets a call for help from Batman, who informs the Man of Steel that a foster family was attacked in Gotham City. One of the family's daughters is missing but the other was found and she needs to talk to Superman about what happened. Sure enough, Superman visits the girl at the hospital and the traumatized girl recounts how her family was murdered and her foster sister Alice was kidnapped by a man in a spacesuit. When Superman asks the girl where did kidnapper took Alice, the girl can only point upwards into the sky. The next day, at the Daily Planet, Clark asks Perry to run the story about Alice but Perry refuses, as that story in Gotham and the Daily Planet only runs stories about Metropolis. He even complains that with all strange things happening lately, people can no longer have a semblance of normality. Much later, Superman asks Green Lantern on how to track down the kidnapper. Green Lantern says that the culprit was probably caught by a zeta beam and it is very difficult to trace zeta beams, even counterfeit ones. The only people who know about zeta beams are the Rannians, and they have stonewalled that information. Hal did put an all points bulletin for the entire Green Lantern Corps, so they can make a collective effort to find the girl, but the universe is a very large place and the Green Lanterns are just a small handful of people. A few days pass and Superman keeps talking to his friends about the possibility of searching for the girl all by himself. Batman, Jonathan Kent and Lois all think Superman should go look for Alice, but Superman thinks he should stay on Earth, where people need him. Batman later tells Superman that the girl at the hospital died, and this motivates Superman to go look for Alice. | StoryTitle2 = Up in the Sky, Part 2: Just Luck | Synopsis2 = This story is reprinted from . Superman flies to Rann, where he talks to one of the scientists that monitors the use of zeta beams all over the universe. The scientist says that even with the proper information, a zeta beam is difficult to monitor. A zeta beam exists in every location of the universe at once and trying to trace it is like containing the entire universe in a single thought. It simply cannot be done. A Computo 3, one of the most advanced machines in the universe, attempted to trace a zeta beam but the information was too much for it to process and eventually, Computo 3 self-destructed. Superman sits onto a special machine that will help trace the zeta beam, but the scientist warns that there is no way of knowing how Superman's mind will react to and interpret the zeta beam. Considering Superman's limitations and the data they have available, it is a mathematical certainty that Superman will go mad and eventually die. Even so, Superman is resolute on saving Alice and tells the scientist to push the button. The scientist reluctantly pushes the button and says goodbye to Superman. As Superman experiences the data flow, his mind drifts into his life on Earth. Clark is working at the Daily Planet until Lois tells him there is a story he needs to cover: a boy that admired Superman jumped off his house's rooftop in an attempt to fly but he suffered horrible injuries and died in the hospital. Saddened that his example led to a boy's death, Superman makes the difficult decision to retire from his superhero duties if that's what it takes to prevent more people from dying. Wonder Woman thinks that won't be the case, as Superman has already inspired too many people and they will attempt to imitate him again. Ten years pass and Superman has isolated himself in the Fortress of Solitude, listening to advice from the hologram of his father Jor-El, who says that without Superman's help, people are still dying. Superman, already deep into madness and despair, says that it doesn't matter if he helps people or not, as they die anyway. Superman remembers what the Rannian scientist told him: the zeta beam information is distorting his mind and soon, he will die. Clark and a girl stand on a house's rooftop. The girl asks Clark if he will jump but he does not know if he can. Suddenly, Clark and the girl find themselves sitting on a bench and the girl says she had been taken to the Bode's Galaxy and she stopped by some kind of space museum, where she saw the story of a boy who survived the destruction of Krypton and made a new life for himself in another world. Clark slowly regains his determination and becomes Superman once again. He asks the girl's name and she answers that her name is Alice. Superman awakens and realizes the zeta beam leads to the Bode's Galaxy. The scientist is astonished that Superman was able to find what he was looking for, but Superman says he was merely lucky. If this was another day, he might have been stuck forever in this machine, but not today. Today, somebody needs him. Superman then leaves Rann and continues his journey across the stars. | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * * * * Antagonists: * * Other Characters: * * Alice * Green Lantern Corps * Lex Luthor Locations: * ** | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * * * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * * Alice * * * Logan Kinny Locations: * ** ** *** **** * Items: * | Notes = | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }} Category:Reprints